Assassination Trivia

[Eva Elisabeth]

Looks familiar...a collector?

[RJNorton]

Nope, not a collector.

[AussieMick]

newspaperman? (editor/journalist)

[RJNorton]

Nope, not a newspaperman.

[Eva Elisabeth]

I'm sure I've seen that likeness before - if so, possibly in a book? (Checked a few yesterday to no avail.)

[RJNorton]

Kudos, Eva. Yes, you could have seen him on a book, plus a photo of him is also on this forum.

[Leon Greene]

(08-10-2019 10:43 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Kudos, Eva. Yes, you could have seen him on a book, plus a photo of him is also on this forum.

Here's a hint to everyone: I assume that I'm supposed to recuse myself from this quiz.

[Steve]

Dr. Luke Blackburn

[RJNorton]

Good job, Steve. Yes, it's Dr. Luke Blackburn. Dr. Blackburn, a Kentucky physician who was devoted to the Confederacy, planned to distribute clothing which had been exposed to yellow fever victims. He erroneously thought that yellow fever could be spread in this manner. He even planned to send "contaminated" dress shirts to the White House. Dr. Greene has authored a book on the topic, and we have a thread on the forum here.

Dr. Luke P. Blackburn

[L Verge]

(08-10-2019 01:33 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  Good job, Steve. Yes, it's Dr. Luke Blackburn. Dr. Blackburn, a Kentucky physician who was devoted to the Confederacy, planned to distribute clothing which had been exposed to yellow fever victims. He erroneously thought that yellow fever could be spread in this manner. He even planned to send "contaminated" dress shirts to the White House. Dr. Greene has authored a book on the topic, and we have a thread on the forum here.

Dr. Luke P. Blackburn

Just want you to know that I behaved myself! When I first read the question, I knew immediately who it was because Leon's great book is sitting right by my elbow on my desk at work.

BTW: Leon will be one of the speakers at the Surratt Conference in April of 2020. We have everything lined up (speakers, trips, etc.), but Ford's Theatre is holding me up on the after-dinner program on Saturday night.

I just have to say that the NPS Rangers who work directly at the theater, giving tours and dealing with the public everyday, are usually very good to work with. Some of the administrators at the division office on Ohio Drive and those that work directly for the Ford's Theatre Society, however, can be slower than Vermont molasses running up hill in January when it comes to helping.

[Gene C]

(08-10-2019 02:49 PM)L Verge Wrote:  I just have to say that the NPS Rangers who work directly at the theater, giving tours and dealing with the public everyday, are usually very good to work with. Some of the administrators at the division office on Ohio Drive and those that work directly for the Ford's Theatre Society, however, can be slower than Vermont molasses running up hill in January when it comes to helping.

That's because they are jealous of the great work the staff and volunteers do at the Surratt House.

I have found that frequently the workers and volunteers on "the front line" work better together and with others than do the administrators and management. That's because adm and mgt are to busy trying to protect their own turf.

[RJNorton]

This is a statue of whom?

[LincolnMan]

No clue

[RJNorton]

Hint #1: It is a person who has been mentioned previously on the forum.

Hint #1.5: Most Lincoln assassination books talk about him. If the book does this, it would most likely come in the latter part of the book.

[Dave Taylor]

That is the statue of congressman John Bingham located in his home of Cadiz, Ohio. Bingham was an Assistant Judge Advocate during the trial of the Lincoln conspirators acting as a member of the prosecution.



More than JAG Joseph Holt and his fellow assistant judge advocate, Henry Burnett, John Bingham really acted as the government's attack dog during the defense's portion of the trial. His habit of objecting to the smallest bit of defense testimony was noted by many involved with the trial. General August Kautz who sat on the commission complained in his diary that, "There is much delay by the Judge Advocate Bingham who is constantly objecting to the questions asked by the Counsel." General William Doster who defended Lewis Powell and George Atzerodt later reflected, “As regards the conduct of the judge advocates, that of Mr. Holt was courteous and moderate throughout, so was that of Colonel Burnett. This, however, cannot be said for Mr. Bingham. His mind seemed to be frenzied and his conduct violent.”

The newspapers also showed their annoyance at Bingham's regular outbursts:
“Objections from Assistant Judge-Advocate Bingham were as frequent today as yesterday, interrupting every fresh point of the evidence for the defence, and often couched in the most singular language – describing some of the questions as the smallest effort to defend a criminal seen since the flood, etc. Mr. Ewing at last remonstrated against this line of conduct in a few mild remarks, urging that it was hardly consistent for the prosecution to compel an adherence to the strict technical rules of evidence on the part of the defence. Judge Holt rejoined that he wished to allow the greatest liberality in admitting evidence, and that he hoped that all frivolous objections, from whatever source they might come, would be overruled by the court, as the only object of the trial was simple and impartial justice. During the rest of the afternoon, Judge Bingham’s captious objections were heard less frequently.”

For an example of the zealous manner in which Bingham reacted to defense testimony, check out the testimony of Philip Maulsby, Michael O'Laughlen's brother in law. The prosecution had previously presented a witness who testified that O'Laughlen was not arrested at his home in Baltimore but at the home of another. The implication of that testimony was that O'Laughlen was avoiding arrest. Walter Cox, O'Laughlen's attorney, called Maulsby to the stand to explain that O'Laughlen had arranged for his own arrest at a different home so as not to upset his mother. Bingham objected mightily to Cox's attempts to present the correct series of events.